Let Property Campaign

There are rules that determine how far HMRC can "look back". The number of assessable years depends on what went wrong in the first place. We can discuss the background of your case with you to establish how many years need to be included in your disclosure.

There is a risk of prosecution if you have deliberately underpaid tax. You should seek professional advice to discuss the Contractual Disclosure Facility, which will protect you from the risk of prosecution for tax fraud.

Try to obtain copies of the relevant information from third parties where possible.

We can help you gather the necessary information and agree on reasonable assumptions where information is simply not available.

Tax must be calculated on previously undeclared income and gains using the rates and allowances appropriate for each tax year in question.

The rates of tax you pay will depend on how much you earned above the tax-free personal allowance (if you are entitled to it).

A disclosure of all historic issues must be made, so it is important to ensure the property profits are not considered in isolation if there are other issues to resolve.

The rate of the penalty will depend on your circumstances and ultimately will be lower if your disclosure is voluntary and of good quality.

Penalty levels will differ depending on whether you submitted inaccurate returns to HMRC or have completely failed to register for Self-Assessment altogether.

HMRC allows reductions to the maximum penalty in a range for the quality of the disclosure and help given by the taxpayer to quantify the correct tax position. This is sometimes referred to as 'telling/helping/giving'.

We will mitigate your exposure to penalties and ensure that all circumstances are taken into account.

HMRC has the right to check disclosures for accuracy and challenge any assumptions used.

HMRC might also ask to see the underlying records to verify the figures included in the disclosure.

Our experts prepare high-quality disclosures to reduce the risk of HMRC questions in the first place. 

We often work with other professional advisors to assist our mutual clients. For example, on many occasions we have been appointed by accountants who are confident in preparing the computations, but unsure how many years to include and how to mitigate penalties; we can advise your accountant on the scope of the disclosure and submit the final version using your accountant’s figures.

Alternatively, we can be appointed to deal with the historic disclosure in its entirety, whilst your current agent continues with regular compliance work.